finished first clinical :(

ok.... so I finished my very first clinical at a nursing home.... I should feel excited... right? I FEEL LOST!!!! I'm starting in a hospital next week and I feel like I didn't get everything I needed out of being there. I didn't get much out of it because my teacher was so focused about getting the care plans done... I hardly got to do any ADLs with my patient and I only got to do one full complete physical assessment. Someone please tell me that everything will be ok!!

ok.... so I finished my very first clinical at a nursing home.... I should feel excited... right? I FEEL LOST!!!! I'm starting in a hospital next week and I feel like I didn't get everything I needed out of being there. I didn't get much out of it because my teacher was so focused about getting the care plans done... I hardly got to do any ADLs with my patient and I only got to do one full complete physical assessment. Someone please tell me that everything will be ok!!

I really think all schools are the same..My clinicals are a mess~

Oct 13, '06

Everything will be okay.

I've had 5 weeks of clinicals and there are still times I feel lost. The truth is if you already knew all this stuff, you wouldn't be in clinical, right? Try to focus on what you DID learn or accomplish instead of the stuff you didn't get done. You will have plenty of patients to do ADLs and assessments on. Plenty! Just try to take it one day at a time and look for the little victories... you'll get there!

Oct 13, '06

I just finished my 8th week of clinicals (med/surg) and at first I felt like so confused, overwhelmed, and of course stressed out to the max!

At the end of the 8th week I couldn't believe how much I had learned in just 8 weeks and was feeling pretty confident! Your going to be surprised how much your going to learn even though everything seems to foreign right now....and your also realizing how much you don't know, how much we all still have to learn.

At the end of my med/surg rotation I ended up with a great clinical evaluation saying I was a leader in the clinical area. I was surprised to see that about myself

There were a lot of things I got to do and see (assessments, triple lumen insertion, lab work, my first subQ injection, fingersticks, etc.) but a lot of things I didn't get the chance to do (like put in a Foley, I just never got the chance! I didn't get the chance to put in an NG tube either). But that was just one rotation and I have 7 more to go....I still have lot's to do and learn.

Don't worry about it, you'll get there. 5 weeks isn't that long in the grand scheme of things

Oct 15, '06

Oh honey, don't feel bad about that! I have completed 2 and half semesters, I work in a hospital as a student nurse (doing everything except IV Push and hang blood) and there are days I still feel lost! Every nurse I've talked to says that it takes a good year or two on the floor full time as an RN to really get comfortable. Take that information to heart! You are expected to be safe, but you are not expected to know everything. If you are unsure about something, anything, go to your nurse and/or your instructor. Don't worry...things will seem better soon, but this is definitely a PRACTICE DISCIPLINE!

Oct 16, '06

seriously your not alone at all.. Last semester i had a nursing home rotation and we did nothing! it was mostly rehab so the patients we saw did almost everything themselves. I am now in the maternity clinical and it is totally different, but you adjust. Don't worry about, I'm sure everyone else in ur clinical is feeling the same way. I am switching to med/surg next week and i'm wicked nervous but at the same time i look forward to a new experience. As for clincals I personally do not believe they help all that much, i mean they do to a point but I believe i have learned A LOT more being a SNAP (Student Nurse Associate Program) over the summer. I def recommend getting a job in a hospital (if thats where you are thinking of workin after college) to gain more experience and feel more comfortable in the hospital setting.

Oct 16, '06

I feel so lost. They shove us out there without instructions, and just tell us to do stuff. There's one instructor for 8 people, and she's running around all the time. I actually had to duck into a bathroom and cry. My second week is coming up, with the first care plan due. I plan to use the first care plan as a counterexample.

Oct 16, '06

It will get better, my first clinicals I felt totally lost. At the start of the med-surg clinical I still felt lost having not x-terned over the summer like the rest of my clinical group had done. So far this semester I've done wound assessment and dressing changes on a diabetic ulcer, flushed a few hep locks, and last weekend I got to do a cude (sp?) foley, it's the rigid type with a hooked end, and my first subq injection. And I just found out on Thursday that I was hired in for an x-tern position on the renal floor of the hospital I'm currently doing my clinicals in.

It's amazing the amount of knowledge you seem to absorb without even realizing it.